![COA Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg 01 AT Colloredo Hieronymus Joseph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/COA_Prince-Archbishop_of_Salzburg_01_AT_Colloredo_Hieronymus_Joseph.png)
Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz (Jérôme Joseph Franz de Paula, Count of Colloredo-Wallsee and Mels; ) was
Prince-Bishop of Gurk
The Bishop of Gurk is the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk, which was established in 1072 as the first suffragan bishop by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg in the Duchy of Carinthia.
Initially performing the functions of a mere archiep ...
from 1761 to 1772 and
Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg
The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of ...
from 1772 until 1803, when the prince-archbishopric was secularized. After secularization, Colloredo fled to Vienna and remained the non-resident archbishop of Salzburg, bereft of temporal power, until his death in 1812. He is most famously known as a patron and employer for
Mozart.
Early life
He was born in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, the second son of Count, later
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
Rudolf Wenzel Joseph of
Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz (1706–1788), a high-ranking Imperial official and his wife, Countess Maria Gabriele of
Starhemberg
The House of Starhemberg is the name of an old and distinguished Austrian noble family originating from Upper Austria, specifically Steyr and Steinbach. Members of the family played important political role within the Holy Roman Empire and ...
(1707-1793).
Life
Hieronymus was brought up in a strict religious household, and since his health did not allow him to pursue a military career, he was educated at the
Theresianum
Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; german: Theresianische Akademie) is a private boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.
History
Early h ...
Academy in Vienna, and studied philosophy at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
and theology at the
Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum The ''Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum'', or simply ''Collegium Germanicum'', is a German-speaking seminary for Catholic priests in Rome, founded in 1552. Since 1580 its full name has been ''Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urb'' ...
in Rome. One of his brothers was the Austrian general
Wenzel Joseph von Colloredo
Wenzel Joseph von Colloredo-Mels und Wallsee (15 October 1738 – 4 September 1822) served in the army of Habsburg Austria from the middle to the end of the 18th century. For the subsequent two decades, he continued to serve the Austrian militar ...
.
Accession
The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg fell vacant in December 1771, and (with considerable pressure from the Imperial court in Vienna), Colloredo, who had been Prince-Bishop of Gurk since 1761, was elected Prince-Archbishop on 14 March 1772 on the 13th ballot. According to Clive, "it was an unpopular choice in Salzburg whose citizens remained cool to him until the end." Clive continues, "he was extremely autocratic and his dictatorial attitude at times provoked the hostility of the cathedral chapter and of civic officials."
Policies
![20 kreutzer de l'Archeveché de Salzbourg à l'effigie de Jérôme Colloredo, 1787](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/20_kreutzer_de_l%27Archevech%C3%A9_de_Salzbourg_%C3%A0_l%27effigie_de_J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_Colloredo%2C_1787.jpg)
During his thirty years as ruler of Salzburg, Colloredo implemented reforms similar to those carried out in the Austrian Empire under
Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
; see
Josephinism
Josephinism was the collective domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790). During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1780–1790), he attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms ...
. According to Halliwell, he "was ultimately successful in his main aims, but the struggle was a perpetual one ... Colloredo had to establish like-minded people in each institution – ecclesiastical, educational, legal, medical, fiscal, administrative and publicistic – and persuade the reluctant populace to change its entire mentality." Halliwell adds that Colloredo "attracted European-wide admiration for his efforts."
Colloredo also resembled Joseph II in moving the Roman Catholic religion within his domains in a direction similar to Protestantism. Halliwell writes: "
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
s and superstitious practices were banned, processions were restricted, church decoration was limited, musical settings of the
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
were shortened and sacred German hymns introduced ... These changes led to deep resentment, and Colloredo and the architect of the pastoral letter
hat implemented the policy Johann Michael Bönike
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
, were called 'secret
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
'. His diocesans would quip: "Our Prince von Colloredo has no ''Gloria'' nor ''Credo''." Throughout his life he was close to
Jansenism
Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...
, and he was also one of around 1500 identified members of the
Illuminati Order.
End of Colloredo's secular rule
On 12 December 1801, as French troops under Napoleon drew near to occupying the city, Archbishop Colloredo fled Salzburg, never to return. In 1803, in the course of the
German mediatization, the prince-archbishopric was secularized, ending the secular rule of Colloredo. Salzburg was awarded instead to the
Grand Duke of Tuscany
The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region.
Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface
:These were origin ...
, who had lost his own state in the Napoleonic upheavals. Later, Salzburg was incorporated into Austria (1805), then Bavaria (1809), then finally into Austria again (1816).
Colloredo, as archbishop, remained the ecclesiastical head of the archdiocese (but not in residence) until his death, aged 79, at Vienna in 1812.
Colloredo and Mozart
Colloredo is well known to history as a patron and employer of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
. He became exceptionally annoyed with Mozart's frequent absences. After a number of arguments, he ultimately dismissed him with the words, "Soll er doch gehen, ich brauche ihn nicht!" ("He should just go then; I don't need him!")
Mozart's letters to his father recount his indignation at what he portrays as abusive and insulting behavior by the Archbishop. In his letter of 13 June 1781, Mozart recounts that the final indignity of his dismissal by Colloredo was administered by the Archbishop's steward, Count Arco (Karl Joseph Maria Felix, 1743–1830):
...if they don't want me – that's fine by me; --instead of Count Arco accepting my petition or obtaining an audience for me to send it in later or persuading me to let the matter rest and think it over, ''enfin,'' whatever he wanted --no, he throws me out of the room and gives me a kick up the backside. – Well, in plain language this means that as far as I'm concerned, Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
no longer exists....
Leopold Mozart stayed in Salzburg but "continued to bemoan the failure to replace musicians who had left or died, and the consequent shambles in the court music." Colloredo "sometimes played the violin in the court orchestra."
In popular culture
Hieronymus von Colloredo was played by Nicholas Kepros in the 1984 film
''Amadeus''. He is also a character in the musical ''
Mozart!
''Mozart!'' is an Austrian musical, originally written in German. The original book and lyrics were written by Michael Kunze and the music and arrangements were composed by Sylvester Levay. The show is a new imagining of the struggles of the famo ...
''
Cast and information about the musical from Budapest Operetta theatre
/ref>
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colloredo, Hieronymus Graf
Bishops of Gurk
19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire
18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire
Roman Catholic archbishops of Salzburg
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's employers and patrons
Counts of Austria
Starhemberg family
Musicians from Vienna
1731 births
1812 deaths
Prince-archbishops of Salzburg